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Research / Maximizing CVB / DMO Value for Incentive Travel Programs
by Incentive Research Foundation
Incentive travel is fundamentally about delivering emotionally impactful, highly customized experiences to reward earners. When engaged, Convention and Visitors Bureaus (CVBs) and Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) play a critical role as well-connected, knowledgeable experts who can help incentive travel professionals create unforgettable trips that include places and events most travelers wouldn’t have access to on their own.
These high-value, memorable experiences enable CVBs and DMOs to show off their destinations in ways they can’t with typical meetings and conventions while simultaneously driving increased revenue per visitor. A well-planned and curated incentive experience also enhances the destination’s brand, giving travelers stories to tell about what they saw and did there.
Most incentive travel professionals engage CVBs/DMOs and view them as important to program success. Consistent engagement and perceived importance of CVBs/DMOs is highest among end-users and lower-volume program planners.
CVB/DMO representatives and incentive travel professionals agree that early contact when the destination is first being considered and throughout the planning stages of a trip is likely to provide important benefits:
Incentive travel professionals value CVBs/DMOs for reducing planning time and increasing decision confidence through faster access to destinations, partners, and feasibility insight. Their strongest impact comes from differentiated value that is difficult to replicate, including destination access, objectivity, and complementarity with DMCs and agencies. 68% indicate they have made a destination decision based on the support / quality of the CVB/DMO.
In April and May 2026, the IRF conducted a quantitative survey of incentive travel program owners and third-party planners to understand their experiences and perspectives on working with CVBs and DMOs. The research explored current engagement with CVBs/DMOs in incentive program planning and examined how program owners and agencies can better leverage these organizations to maximize funding, access, and overall program value.
Respondents met the following criteria:
Ten representatives from Convention and Visitors Bureaus (CVBs) and Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) in North America and Europe were interviewed individually for approximately one hour to better understand how they think about and manage incentive travel. Participants were from the following geographic areas:
The objective of this qualitative was to explore the strategies, priorities, and understanding of incentive travel programs within the CVB/DMO context, including topics such as:
CVB/DMO representatives indicated that while incentive travel is an important piece of business, it is one of multiple areas of focus. Incentive travel professionals see the value of working with CVB/DMOs but note challenges with responsiveness and consistency.
Strategy and focus (or lack thereof): All CVB/DMO interviewees approach incentive travel very seriously and want to attract more of it. However, while incentive programs are a strategically important part of each CVB’s/DMO’s business, the representatives in the study were not able to clearly articulate a distinct “incentive travel strategy” for their organizations. Within the business travel segment, incentive trips are important because they enable travelers to see and experience more aspects of the destination, but non-incentive business travel generally includes more people and therefore more room nights, which is also important to the CVBs and DMOs.
The CVBs and DMOs in the study want to attract as much incentive business as possible, but there is a visibility gap that prevents them from knowing exactly how much incentive travel business is coming into their communities. They are not aware of some of the groups/trips, but they do know there are a significant number that work directly with hotels, experience providers, and/or DMCs instead of contacting the CVB/DMO.
Perceptions of incentive travel professionals: Incentive travel professionals commonly view CVBs/DMOs as prioritizing incentive programs similarly to other event types, with stronger agreement among end-users, frequent users, and lower-volume planners. Incentive travel professionals’ perceptions are generally mixed regarding CVB/DMO focus on only very large programs, with end-users, frequent users, and smaller groups more likely to perceive a lesser focus on small groups.
Staffing and dedication to incentives: Across almost all of the bureaus we spoke with, staff members are not fully dedicated to the incentive travel vertical. However, a CVB/DMO may have someone who manages all of their incentive business in addition to other responsibilities. Some of those staff members are very active with incentive industry events and third-party incentive companies, but their leaders may be less focused on incentive travel because it’s not a significant-enough vertical for their destination.
Incentive travel professionals see collaboration challenges: This lack of focus by CVB/DMOs on the incentive market was confirmed by incentive travel professionals. One-third of incentive travel professionals report at least one friction point in collaborating with CVBs/DMOs. End-users are primarily challenged by responsiveness and timeliness, while third parties report more varied and less pronounced collaboration challenges.
Industries & sectors: While CVBs and DMOs work with all industries, there are a few that rise to the top as focus areas due to frequency. These are financial & insurance, technology, automotive, pharmaceutical, and medical. Sometimes, the client’s industry becomes a selling point for the CVB/DMO if that industry has a strong local presence that enables the CVB/DMO to offer something “extra” to the incentive planner. Examples include a tour of a local business/facility or a locally-based CEO giving a keynote speech at a welcome event.
Funding: Primary financial support for CVBs and DMOs is a “bed tax”—a tax paid by hotel guests. The bed tax supports not only the CVB/DMO, but also other city services/offerings. Some CVBs/DMOs are also membership-based and receive financial support through their members.
CVBs and DMOs are very knowledgeable resources, but they aren’t the only resource incentive planners work with.
Representing an entire county/area: CVBs and DMOs make a point of representing and marketing their entire geographic region and what it has to offer so they can recommend the right places and experiences to each client. This means they need to learn and know about all of the various hotels, attractions, and upcoming events, including what makes each one unique and why a group might choose certain offerings over others. It also includes maintaining relationships with organizations that serve the incentive travelers directly.
Focus: For each CVB/DMO, focusing on “what we’re not” seems to be just as important as “what we are.” For example, several interviewees said things like “We know we’re not a beach destination, so instead, we focus on x, y, z that’s unique to our area.”
Hotel-focused vs. experience-focused: Some CVBs and DMOs serve as a resource at the beginning planning stages, while others continue to play an important role in an incentive program’s success from the initial fact-finding conversation through all aspects of planning a successful trip. Additionally, while some CVBs and DMOs concentrate primarily on making hotel recommendations, most of the representatives in the study are more holistic, making recommendations for attractions and activities as well as places to stay; this, of course, depends on the extent of assistance desired by the incentive travel planner.
Not the only resource: CVBs and DMOs often don’t work directly with the end client/company. Instead, they work with the incentive planning organization, and they acknowledge that an incentive planner still needs to work with a DMC in addition to the CVB/DMO.
Working with a CVB/DMO gives incentive planners access and exclusivity they (and their clients’ reward winners) can’t get on their own.
Incentive travel professionals’ engagement with CVB/DMOs is driven by a diverse mix of expertise, access, financial support, and experience enhancement. Third parties are more likely to leverage CVBs/DMOs as strategic partners for destination expertise, unique experiences, and financial incentives.
Value: CVB and DMO representatives believe the primary value they deliver includes local expertise, relationships/connections to experience providers, access to exclusive experiences, and navigation of permits and logistics (such as for a street parade).
Exclusivity: CVBs and DMOs like to focus on unforgettable, “unique to our area” experiences that are tailor-made when helping groups think about what an incentive trip might look like for their group. Local immersion experiences are what set each location apart from others being considered.
CVBs and DMOs have knowledge about and access to experiences a regular traveler wouldn’t know about or have access to, and these types of experiences are especially important for reward trips. CVB/DMO team members often work closely with experience providers to make sure an experience is special and unique for incentive trip earners.
Incentive travel professionals see the greatest value in unique experiences, followed by destination selection and financial support when working with CVB/DMOs. End-users are more likely to value executional support, while third parties place higher value on financial incentives and experience access.
Most incentive travel professionals and CVBs/DMO representatives see the value of early engagement.
Timing for working together: CVBs/DMOs are most effective when engaged early in the planning process, with strongest usage during discovery, feasibility, and destination shortlisting stages. The best time to get them involved is typically as soon as the incentive planner is considering the city as a possibility for the trip. This is when the CVB/DMO can help planners explore possibilities for experiences, understand appropriate hotel options, and determine the best dates for the trip. Additionally, the CVB/DMO representative can invite the incentive travel planner for a site visit (often with free airfare) so they can experience the destination firsthand (even if they’ve been there before).
However, for some destinations, a contact more than 12 to 18 months out may be too soon for discussing hotels. This is due to larger hotels in popular areas being less willing to offer availability to smaller groups too soon. They want to be able to accommodate large (convention-size) groups first, then fill in with the smaller (incentive-size) groups later.
Early engagement with CVB/DMOs is also the clear preference of incentive travel professionals, reinforcing the strategic role CVBs/DMOs play in incentive planning. Incentive travel professionals indicated key engagement stages as hotel/venue sourcing (56%), early discovery / feasibility (53%), destination shortlisting (47%), experience design / DMC introduction (47%) and marketing & communications (47%).
Common misconceptions may be preventing some incentive planners from engaging with CVBs/DMOs.
Three key misconceptions: CVB and DMO representatives noted that despite the important role they can play in an incentive trip’s success, they aren’t always brought into the planning process for a variety of reasons, such as:
Additionally, a few interviewees mentioned that younger, new-to-the-industry incentive planners are more likely to bypass the CVB/DMO, but this is sometimes due to lack of awareness.
Incentive travel professionals indicate that engagement barriers are driven less by lack of awareness and more by reliance on DMCs, direct partnerships, and budget/time constraints. End-users are more reliant on established DMC relationships, while third parties are more constrained by coordination, clarity, and specialization gaps.
Working with a CVB/DMO can provide financial advantages to the incentive planner.
Financial incentives: Some CVBs/DMOs are able to offer incentives to entice incentive travel planners. The qualification criteria are “black and white” based on group size, number of hotel nights, and timing of the trip; there is no judgment involved in deciding whether to offer an incentive to a particular group—they either qualify or they don’t. When available, incentives offered to planners include:
CVB/DMO financial incentives are broadly utilized, but with a wide range of value. Higher-frequency programs emphasize financial and marketing support, while lower-frequency programs prioritize executional and sourcing support. 62% of incentive travel professionals indicated that financial support with more transparent rules would make them more likely to use a CVB/DMO. 74% reported programs benefited from CVB/DMO financial incentives
Discounts: Some CVBs/DMOs are unable to provide an incentive, but they can have a dialogue with hotels or other stakeholders to push a discount for a group. The CVBs/DMOs, their members, and local experience providers all know they need to work together to win business as well as provide the unforgettable experiences that keep organizations and people coming back. Tourism is critical for the economic development of the city, so hotels and experience providers work cooperatively, even if they are technically competitors, to help bring businesses to the city.
Measurement and KPIs
62% of incentive travel professionals surveyed indicated that CVB/DMO engagement improves program ROI. Incentive travel professionals would benefit most from CVB/DMO support on experience quality, ROI, and time savings KPIs. This reiterates the importance of early engagement and collaboration between CVBs and incentive travel professionals. Bringing CVBs into the planning process sooner creates opportunities to establish broader measurement frameworks that extend beyond traditional metrics such as room nights and attendee satisfaction and begin to include metrics tied on business performance or long-term behavioral change.
CVBs and DMOs can be powerful partners for incentive travel programs, especially when engaged early to shape destination feasibility, unlock local expertise, and identify distinctive experiences travelers could not access on their own. Incentive planners broadly recognize their value, including financial support, time savings, and stronger decision confidence, but key constraints can limit engagement.
Key constraints for CVBs and DMOs
Recommendations for helping build stronger relationships between incentive planners and CVBs/DMOs
While most program owners strongly believe incentive travel drives outcomes such as sales growth, engagement, and retention, far fewer are confident in their ability to demonstrate that success with metrics and KPIs. This study explores business-focused measurement approaches.
To explore how to maximize the value of a destination, we gathered industry professionals at Fairmont Le Château Frontenac in Quebec City for roundtable discussions in partnership with Destination Canada.
